Brewer reappointed Hamilton town counsel

When asked by Town Manager Michael Lombardo for their guidance, members of the Hamilton Board of Selectmen supported his decision to reappoint Town Counsel Donna Brewer, 3-2.

A group of citizens had opposed Brewer’s reappointment because they believed she mishandled a scandal within the Hamilton Police Department involving inaccurate record keeping of donations and falsifying EMT recertification records.

“I’m in a relationship with the board that I need to cultivate and grow, not defend and fight,” Lombardo said. “I’ll follow your wishes, but I hope you’ll support my decision.”

Selectmen Chairman David Neill said that, while the appointment of town counsel is the responsibility of the town manager, the board may be consulted on such decisions.

“In a letter to us, Michael has actually consented to allow this board to actually give him some advice to, in effect, serve as a consulting board to him,” he said.

Neill said the most effective way to go about giving their recommendations would be in a public forum.

“The Board of Selectmen cannot decide, deliberate and vote in a vacuum,” he said.

Lombardo had written in his memorandum to board members that he wished to have the support of the selectmen in reappointing Brewer and gave some background on how he came about his decision.

“I’ve been through the reports, all three of them, the Urbelis, the Pomeroy and Hayes several times,” he said, adding that he also spent several hours going through deposition transcripts from the Michael Marchand case. “And I’ve spent two and a half years working with town counsel to know what she’s like as a professional and as legal counsel for the town of Hamilton.”

Lombardo went on to say that the Hayes report was fraught with issues since a full investigation was not conducted.

“The conclusions are extrapolated from the limited amount of research and analysis he did,” Lombardo said, explaining that there were phrases such as “seems to” and “must’ve meant” throughout the report. “The conclusions are wholly speculation on his part and I do not believe or support it with fact.”

Lombardo said Pomeroy was not commissioned to look into the actions of town counsel.

“In fact, he never had an interview with or met with town counsel or any other key players in the town of Hamilton at that time,” he said. “All of his references are based solely on the Hayes report.”

Lombardo said he ultimately felt that the reports did not supply him enough concrete information to deny Brewer’s reappointment.

“I cannot rely on the conclusions derived in the reports to base a decision on,” he said. “I don’t feel that the resulting actions or inactions [of town counsel] were really the basis or whole premise of the lawsuits.”

When the citizens were allowed to comment, Hamilton resident Jay Burnham suggested that replacing Brewer would be the final step in the healing process.

Each board member then took turns discussing the issues at hand and how they felt about the situation.

Jennifer Scuteri and Marc Johnson both supported Lombardo in his decision to reappoint Brewer.

“My experience with Donna has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Johnson said, adding that he felt the board could be more aggressive in standing behind Lombardo’s decisions in the future.

Jeff Hubbard said mistakes were made and he felt that it would not be a bad idea to put the position out to bid.

“There are casualties. There were a lot of good, hard-working people involved in this that were casualties,” he said. “It’s nothing intentional. I just think that she’s part of the history of this town that people want to put behind them.”

Jeff Stinson said, while Brewer is a “phenomenal attorney and a phenomenal person,” with the amount of turmoil the town has gone through with the Marchand case, the board should explore its options.

“It’s time to turn the page on this subject,” he said. “For the sake of the town and moving on from this situation, it should be put out to bid.”

Neill said the town should recognize that mistakes were made and put those in the past, similar to how the Police Department handled the matter.

“I’m in favor of and support the town manager’s decision,” he said. “Whether or not he wants to put it out to bid or not is his decision. I’m perfectly happy to put all of this behind us by affirming the town manager and Donna Brewer, just as we have done with the police department.”

Following the lengthy discussion, Johnson, Neill and Scuteri voted in favor of supporting Brewer’s reappointment, with Stinson and Hubbard opposed.